As head football coach Dave Wannstedt prepares to confront Miami on the field at 7:30 tonight,… As head football coach Dave Wannstedt prepares to confront Miami on the field at 7:30 tonight, he found himself answering questions about some of his players’ conduct off the field.

Distractions lingered over Pitt practices this week as another Panther found himself in conflict with the law. This past weekend, reserve offensive lineman Keith Coleman became the third Pitt player to be arrested since July. His charges were aggravated assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.

“One or two incidents are not an indication of our entire team of 120 kids,” Wannstedt said at a news conference. “People know what our track record has been. We have an outstanding group of young men here at Pitt. We’ve had a couple of bad decisions in the last couple weeks, or month and a half, but that is not an indication of our football team.”

Fellow Panthers who have been arrested include running back Jason Douglas, who was accused earlier this month of underage drinking, driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI and causing an accident involving injury.

Defensive end Jabaal Sheard pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct last month in connection to an incident this summer.

On the field, Pitt has faced a different set of obstacles, which it’s just starting to overcome. Running back Ray Graham returned from his knee injury to rush for 115 yards on nine carries in a 38-16 win over New Hampshire last game, stealing the spotlight from teammate Dion Lewis.

Wannstedt said he has not planned how much playing time each back will receive against No. 19 Miami, which also has a 1-1 record at the moment.

“We don’t have anything different for Dion than we do for Ray. They’re both interchangeable,” he said while tonight’s home game. “We’ll go in this week knowing that they’re both going to play, but with no specific plan that Dion will get so many carries, and Ray will get so many carries. If we get a hot hand, we’ll play the hot hand.”

Both backs have rushed for two touchdowns this season, but Lewis has averaged just 2.9 yards per carry compared to 5.5 yards per carry last year.

Miami, like Pitt, has a wealth of running backs at its disposal. Senior Damien Berry leads the Hurricanes in rushing, but last year’s starter Graig Cooper practiced this week and will likely return Thursday from a lower-body injury that has limited him to only two carries so far this season.

“I think he’ll be back for our game,” Wannstedt said. “I think we’re going to see Cooper, I think we’re going to see Berry and then the freshman, Lamar Miller.”

Miller ran back a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown against Ohio State during Miami’s last game. Wannstedt called him “the biggest and the fastest of them all,” and said that special teams will play a major role in Thursday’s game.

“With the extra days we put some emphasis on the special teams, particularly with things that we need to clean up,” he said. “Earlier in the season, we know that special teams are always a big determining factor in wins or losses.”

In addition to special teams, Pitt focused on Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who threw for 3,352 yards last year and led Miami to its best season since 2005.

“You can see [Harris] on film making all the throws,” Wannstedt said. “He can throw from sideline to sideline. He can throw deep very accurately. He forces you to defend the whole field without a doubt.”

Harris, however, struggled two weeks ago at No. 2 Ohio State. The Buckeyes picked him off four times and sent the Hurricanes home with a 36-24 loss.

Meanwhile, Pitt’s Tino Sunseri bounced back against New Hampshire and threw for 275 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Despite the successful performance, Wannstedt cautioned that he does not want to abandon focusing on his offense’s balance.

“I like where Tino Sunseri is going, but we have to be careful that we don’t fall in a trap,” he said. “We can’t go out and be one-dimensional. We can’t go out and win a big game being only one-dimensional.”

Wannstedt also announced a bit of lighter news at his press conference earlier this week.

The Turn It Blue campaign popularized with last season’s home victory over Notre Dame will return tonight. Panther fans are encouraged to wear blue for the most anticipated home football game since last year’s heartbreaking loss to Cincinnati.

Wannstedt said up to 350 former Panthers will participate in pre- and post-game events, and the Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity sold out 500 blue “We Will Rock U” T-shirts.

“If I could go back and order 2,000 shirts, I would do it in a heartbeat,” said Pitt student Adam Fasullo, creator of the Facebook event for the sale.